CHAPTER 25: THE ROOT OF TIME
For a long moment, there was only silence.
Then — breath.
Billy gasped awake, floating in darkness. The air was thick, damp, pulsing like the inside of a living organism. The ground beneath his feet was soft, breathing, glowing with veins of green and faint red. He tried to move, but the moment he stepped forward, the world rippled around him — like water disturbed by a pebble.
He wasn't on Titan anymore.
He was inside something.
The air carried whispers, countless voices overlapping, forming a deep hum that made his chest ache. His hands glowed faintly, and the vines around his arms moved on their own — not obeying him this time, but guiding him, pulling him forward through the darkness.
"Welcome… seed of the Verdant One."
The voice echoed like thunder and wind, both gentle and ancient. Billy turned, trying to find the source, but the darkness shaped itself into massive silhouettes — trees taller than mountains, their branches twisting into infinity.
A world of roots. A forest beyond time.
"You have crossed the veil," the voice continued. "Few ever do. Fewer return."
Billy swallowed hard. "What is this place?"
"The Root of Time. Where all things living are remembered. Where every breath that ever was, and ever will be, still lingers."
He stepped forward. Each footfall sent waves of light rippling beneath the ground. Visions flickered in the air — images of planets, civilizations, and heroes long forgotten. He saw Asgard before it fell, Wakanda at its peak, Earth before cities — every world connected by threads of green light that pulsed like veins through the cosmos.
Billy whispered, "The roots… they connect everything."
"Yes," said the voice. "Life itself is a single organism. You are its child — its protector. But corruption grows among the roots. A rot born of human greed and dark science."
Images shifted. He saw Kain — younger, human, standing in a bright laboratory. His eyes glowed with ambition. He touched the seed of an alien tree, whispering words of awe — and the seed responded, bleeding black smoke.
"He took what was pure and twisted it," the voice murmured. "He sought immortality, and in doing so, gave birth to decay."
Billy clenched his fists, trembling. "So this all started with him?"
"No. He merely opened the door."
The air grew colder. The green glow dimmed, replaced by a deep crimson pulse. The roots around him began to writhe. From the shadows, shapes emerged — humanoid figures made of black bark and metal, their eyes burning red.
They moved like ghosts, whispering in mechanical tones.
"Join us…"
"Feed the Bloom…"
"The Rot will cleanse the stars…"
Billy's power surged instinctively. Vines burst from his hands, slashing through the creatures. But when they fell, more rose from the soil.
He realized then — this wasn't a battlefield. It was a test.
"Do you understand now, Ironroot?" the voice said, resonating from everywhere and nowhere. "Every life you protect strengthens the Green. Every death feeds the Rot. And both are bound within you."
Billy fell to his knees, his aura flickering. "I didn't ask for this. I just wanted to stop the pain… to make things right."
"You cannot stop pain," the voice rumbled. "But you can give it meaning."
Suddenly, the world shifted again. The roots beneath him opened, and he was falling — down, deeper, through endless tunnels of light and shadow.
He landed hard on solid ground. The light around him was dim now, flickering like dying embers. And standing before him was someone he never expected to see.
It was himself.
An older Billy — eyes hollow, skin cracked with green light. His voice was low, almost mechanical. "You shouldn't have come here."
Billy stepped back, shocked. "What are you?"
The older version tilted his head. "What you will become if you fail. The Guardian who forgot mercy. The god who thought himself the cure."
The world trembled.
Billy shook his head. "That's not me. That will never be me."
The other smirked. "You think you have a choice? The Green chooses its vessel… and it never lets go."
He lunged forward, vines erupting from his arms like blades. Billy barely dodged, clashing with his own reflection. Every strike cracked the ground, sending bursts of green energy through the dark forest.
They fought with equal strength — each hit perfectly mirrored, each attack countered by the same power. It was like fighting his own heartbeat.
"You can't win," the older Billy hissed. "Because every time you kill, every time you lose control… you become me."
Billy's eyes blazed. "Then I'll rewrite the root!"
He drove his fist into the ground. A shockwave of green energy erupted outward, shattering the illusion. The older Billy screamed, dissolving into shards of light.
When the dust settled, Billy stood alone again — panting, trembling.
The voice returned, softer now. "You faced your reflection and survived. But beware — the shadow of what you saw remains. The Rot grows not in your world… but in your heart."
Billy looked down. His veins glowed brighter now — but deep within the light, faint streaks of red pulsed, spreading slowly.
"You are the balance, Ironroot," the voice said. "And balance always demands a sacrifice."
The ground began to shake violently. Roots burst upward, wrapping around him, pulling him back toward the surface.
He screamed as light engulfed him —
— and then he was back.
Titan's surface. The canyon. Gamora's voice shouting his name. Rocket pulling him to his feet.
Billy gasped, eyes wide, still glowing.
"Kid!" Rocket yelled. "Where the hell did you go? You were gone for hours!"
Billy's voice was hoarse. "I saw it all. The beginning. The truth of the Green."
Gamora frowned. "And?"
He looked up at the stars, eyes burning like emerald fire. "Kain's not just trying to destroy life. He's trying to rewrite it."
They stared at him in silence as the wind howled over the dead world.
Billy turned, his aura flaring. "And if he succeeds… nothing in the universe will ever grow again."